Enclosure Revamp

[MildredsMommy]

So I intially had Mildred in a very large guinea pig cage but the humidity was non existant. I moved her into this 54 gallon Rubbermaid and wow what a difference! The substrate is a mixture of ecco earth and organic topsoil-I put reptibark and little stones around her water, hoping to detour some of the inivitable tracking of substrate into the water-yeah, didnt work However, with the substrate being much deeper, she is loving to burrow and looks like a little mudbug half the time. She does have a 100 watt PowerSun as a uva/uvb source (she spends two days a week outside in her play pen). I live in Texas, so the room stays a nice balmy 85-90 degrees on any given day. Any advice/suggestions more than welcome!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Roxanne:

I love the habitat. It looks very natural, but there are a couple things I would do differently.

First of all, even though it's a very large plastic tub, in my opinion, it's not quite big enough.

Next, the waterer is nice and deep, and box turtles really like to sit in the deep water, however, the sides are so steep that I would worry the turtle would tip over backwards when getting out and may end up on her back in the water.

But overall, you've done a very nice job. And the fact she gets to spend some time outside makes up for the not-so-big indoor habitat.

 

[MildredsMommy]

Hi Roxanne:

I love the habitat. It looks very natural, but there are a couple things I would do differently.

First of all, even though it's a very large plastic tub, in my opinion, it's not quite big enough.

Next, the waterer is nice and deep, and box turtles really like to sit in the deep water, however, the sides are so steep that I would worry the turtle would tip over backwards when getting out and may end up on her back in the water.

But overall, you've done a very nice job. And the fact she gets to spend some time outside makes up for the not-so-big indoor habitat.

Thanks Yvonne! Yes, the tote I feel is too small as well-I am planning on connecting them via "train style" like I saw in a post here-I just didnt have the funds to do it this paycheck. On the water , I have tried EVERYTHING for her instead of that water bowl-but she LOVES to swim and she didnt seem to care for anything else-I dont know if you can tell in the pic, but I do have a large rock inside there and so far no problems-but by all means, PLEASE share any ideas you might have for my girl-I am beginning to think I should have named her Esther Williams instead of Mildred Pierce! LOL